IntroductionSo,
you want a big screen experience in your home, but a 50-inch plasma
won’t quite cut it and you don’t have the Benjamins for something
bigger. To make matters worse, your room isn’t quite suited for front
projection, or you can’t justify to your significant other why heavy
blackout drapes or gray walls is a good idea. What is one to do? Get
yourself a rear-projection DLP, that’s what you do. Rear projection DLP
HDTVs offer most, if not all, of the features of their plasma and
projection brethren with fewer drawbacks and lower prices. Rear
projection DLPs come in a wide range of sizes, from 40 inches on up
and, thanks to the wizards over at Texas Instruments, they’re shallower
than ever, with an average depth around 15 inches, making them easier
to place in and about the home. To top it off, rear-projection DLP TVs
are way cheaper than their plasma or projection counterparts, save a
few manufacturers, giving consumers more of that bang for their bucks.

Take
for instance the DLP TV in question for this review, the Samsung
HL-S6187W 1080p-capable HDTV. It retails for a mere $2,999, which for a
61-inch HD anything is quite a bargain. Throw in the latest 1080p
technology, countless video enhancements and two HDMI inputs, and the
Samsung begins to sell itself. At 61 inches (diagonally), the Samsung
finds itself in the larger end of the display spectrum, measuring in at
55 inches wide by 38-and-a-half inches tall and 17-and-a-half inches
deep and weighing in at a surprisingly light 81 pounds. Still, don't
think you can move the thing by yourself. From the front, the Samsung
DLP is extremely attractive, with a glossy black finish accented by a
thin silver bevel that runs along the bottom of the TV, just under the
Samsung nameplate. The silver bezel isn't just a decorative feature;
it's actually the opening to the TV's internal speakers, which Samsung
calls their "hidden speaker" technology. Clever. Along the lower edge
of the "hidden speaker" and off to the right of the TV itself are the
manual controls for options such as power, channel up/down, volume and
input selection. Turing my attention aft, I was welcomed by a bevy of
input options. First and foremost, the Samsung DLP TV features not one
but two 1080p-capable HDMI inputs, which support not only digital video
signals but digital audio signals as well. For those of you still in
the analog realm, there are two sets of component video inputs, as well
as two S-video inputs and two composite inputs, with the third located
on the side of the TV. There is an RF or coaxial input as well, which
takes advantage of the Samsung's internal HDTV tuner for those
connecting their antennas or cable boxes directly to the TV. There is
also an RGB monitor input, allowing you to connect the Samsung to a PC
and use it as your computer monitor. Getting back to its inputs, the
Samsung has a full complement of RCA audio ins for each of its video
inputs, as well as an optical audio out and a single USB input with a
photo viewer interface located on the side of the TV.

Inside,
the Samsung is packed with the latest goodies, boasting some pretty
impressive specs. For starters, the Samsung has a stated resolution of
1920 by 1080, providing it with its 1080p qualifications. Tack on a
reported yet hard to believe 10,000 to 1 contrast ratio for deep blacks
and whiter whites, and the Samsung shows it has some muscle to flex.
But the good news doesn't stop there. Inside, Samsung has included
their latest version of their Cinema Smooth 1080p Light Engine, which
Samsung claims results in a picture with no visible pixel structure and
better low-light detail. Also, the Samsung DLP TV has the
next-generation DLP chips from Texas Instruments, which claim to be
more responsive than any other HDTV technology on the market today.
Along with the latest from Texas Instruments, Samsung has beefed up
their color wheels to be not only faster and more accurate, but quieter
as well. Those of you familiar with older projection TVs or early DLP
designs can probably recall just how finicky the colors could be.
Samsung also employs their exclusive DNIe or Digital Natural Image
Engine technology to ensure the best, most uniform picture from any
source, which should all but guarantee the truest color and highest
contrast while keeping digital artifacts to a minimum. Couple all of
this with Samsung's Cinema Smooth 3:2 pull-down and a grip of color
controls, and you should get one hell of an amazing picture.

Set-up
As if this review were not already overloaded with features, I have
more. My review sample did not come from Samsung, but rather from the
online giant Amazon.com. Amazon.com has exploded over the years to
include just about everything people could want for outfitting their
lives. Even more impressive than their huge selection and low prices,
Amazon.com now offers white-glove delivery services for most of their
larger consumer electronic product lines. The white glove delivery
isn't free, but it does have its advantages, including in-home set-up
and the disposal of all boxes and packing materials, letting you get on
with enjoying your purchase faster. With the TV delivered and set up in
my living room system, I began the process of calibration.

First,
I connected the Samsung to my reference receiver, the Denon 4806, via
its HDMI monitor out. I attempted to use my Toshiba XA-1 HD DVD player
with the Samsung, but due to handshake issues and other problems that
have plagued the format and many first-generation players, I was unable
to get the two components to "talk" to each other. To be clear, I do
not blame this on the set. Many people have had success with different
switchers, cables, etc. In my case, nothing I could do worked in the
digital domain. So I opted for my reliable Denon 3910 universal player
for standard-definition DVD playback. I dusted off my JVC D-VHS player
for some high-definition action, with my Time Warner HD-DVR rounding
out the list of equipment. I connected everything via Monster M series
interconnects. I am regretful that I couldn’t score a matching Samsung
Blu-ray player for the review. While new players are headed to market
this holiday season and I am certain to invest in them, they are
currently the only players to give true 1080p output.

With my Denon player, I cued up my calibration disc of choice, Digital
Video Essentials. I found the Samsung's menus to be nicely designed and
informative, though some of the more critical controls are buried
within a barrage of sub menus making calibration a bit tedious. It's
important to point out that, while I was able to ultimately achieve a
rather stellar image, the Samsung's picture controls seem to affect one
another more than most, which made the whole process take a little
longer than expected. Yet, in less than two hours, I was ready to rock
and roll.